Editor :
A million dollars is a lot of money for a municipal project in a town of 1,400 people. This is exactly what the Village of Telkwa has already applied to borrow in order to buy and renovate their new Village office. In Telkwa, 92 per cent of the municipal taxes are residential. This would cost at least $130 per household, annually. Over 30 years? $3,900!
The Village has already purchased their new office and the employees are already working from that location with approximately $300,000 spent. So, what of the remaining $700,000?
The Village claims to have informed the taxpayers of Telkwa about this project. I would argue otherwise.
The Village has opted to apply for this funding via an ‘Alternative Approval Process.’ What this means is that if 10 per cent of the electorate does not fill out a voter application form before July 25, the Village will automatically be approved for this loan.
No referendum.
As of July 7 there was still no detailed project description or budget posted to the Village’s web site. There has been nothing posted regarding the project in The Interior News for the past two weeks. After speaking with a councillor on Thursday and hearing that the Village was ‘certainly not trying to pull a fast one’ on the taxpayers, I received the Village newsletter the following Saturday. No mention that they intend to borrow a million dollars. No communication that there is an opportunity to vote against the loan bylaw. No project description or budget.
A million dollars is too much money to spend without full public consultation.
Elector Response Forms are available at the Village office, or online at www.telkwa.com .
Fill one out before July 25 and return it to the Village office.
Vote no to irresponsible spending!
Darcy Repen
Telkwa